Industrial automation environments typically include various machines, such as drives, pumps, motors, and robots. Each machine continually produces operational data over time related to the performance of the machine, such as the machine's pressure, temperature, speed, and other metrics. Industrial environments also commonly include a Human-Machine Interface (HMI). An HMI typically receives and processes the status data from the machines to generate various graphical displays, which may indicate the current and historical performance of the machines. For example, an HMI graphical display might indicate status metrics of a drive, the pressure of a pump, the speed of a motor, or the output of a robot. The HMI may also provide a mechanism for an operator to send control instructions to a control system that controls the machines. For example, an operator might use the HMI to direct the control system to update drive parameters, turn on a pump, speed-up a motor, or stop a robot.
Existing HMI systems often require a user to operate an HMI by providing user input as physical touches directly into the HMI system, often requiring the use of a mouse, keyboard, touch screen, or similar input devices. Traditional HMI systems also commonly include a built-in display screen for displaying graphical content to the user.